Matt Fisher, for amateurgolf.com,
shows how to use the Golfsense 3D Swing
Analyzer

You won't believe the amount of
information GolfSense's new device and app
can provide for just $129.99. If you're looking
to put a purpose into your practice, track your
results, and better understand what produces
a consistent ball flight (and you love having
the latest tech gadgets), you should read on,
and think about giving GolfSense a try.

As a golf writer and proprietor of a popular
website, I have been exposed to just about
every type of advanced computer, video, and
fitting system on the market. Sensors
attached to my body from head to shoes have
made me feel like a lab rat. My teachers have
left me with a visual record (in the form of DVD
or online video app) of the lesson, but I've
never had the opportunity (other than filming
my swing with my iPhone) to analyze the
progress I was making.

When I recently discovered (through a friend)
GolfSense's wafer thin, super-light device that
attaches to a glove in the Velcro closure and
connects to your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch
via Bluetooth, I knew I had to get one and try
it out.

The possibilities of this little device measuring
the path of my swing, its speed, tempo and
the rotation of the hands intrigued me.

Most importantly, it's light, doesn't
add weight to the club or add wind-drag like
competing products. (Read more about the negative effects of adding
weight to your club by using clip-on or end of
grip attached devices.)
The wonders of miniaturization became
apparent the minute I opened the box and
connected GolfSense to my iPhone. It took
just a few minutes to calibrate and setup,
including an online account which is super-
simple to synchronize with the GolfSense app.

Golf swings (sorted by date) and progress are
literally stored in the cloud for you to look at
and analyze at anytime. On the course or
practice tee, a friendly female
voice says "You can swing now!" and
GolfSense is ready to, well, sense.

In my case, the only technical issue I
experienced was staying still before drawing
the club back, as GolfSense requires a brief
pause (about a second) before it auto-detects
impact. Interestingly, the process of learning
to "pause" and hold the club still, in itself,
helped me. And impact-detection can be
turned on or off, as I later learned.

If you take a step back to the first time you
connected with a solid and straight golf shot,
you may not have known it at the time, but by
either luck or sheer talent (wouldn't we all like
to think the latter) you found a way to square
the club at impact. Doing so consistently is the
key to hitting quality shots.

The core data provided by GolfSense is a 3D
swing view, at several different angles. It's the
most visual, tactile aspect of the data, and
the robotic view of the swing and the plane
your club travels is captivating, to say the
least. Hold the slider down with your finger,
and you'll begin to understand the length of
your swing. (John Daly's backswing would be
interesting - he might get past 270 degrees!)

At the top of the screen, a golf ball with an
animated GolfSense logo that says "Analysis"
provides a quick view of club speed at impact
for the current swing, or any of your saved
swings.

Click on the golf ball, and you can "swipe"
through several different data points, all with
useful charts and graphs:

-Clubhead speed (maximum and at impact)

-Hand speed

-Tempo, (time of backswing and downswing in
seconds, plus a ratio of the two)

-Hip rotation

-Shaft position at the top of the
backswing

-Plane Comparison (between backswing and
downswing)

-Wrist Release (degrees per second)

All of the screens to the right (along with a
handful of other metrics) come with little notes
for the swing you are viewing. Some offer
suggestions (for example I need to slow down
my backswing to improve tempo) and others
offer compliments. (Excellent release!)

Being an app, GolfSense promises to be an
ever-improving analytical tool. Used without a
teacher, you will be able to do swing
comparison and take stats you couldn't
possibly do as frequently or easily without
such a device. But to really exploit the app
and the data it provides, see a golf
professional that is into technology (most have
iPhones, and use them for video already). It's
also important to keep your club data up-to-
date on the website, to calibrate before
playing, and to sync the online library with
your iPhone or iPad.

GolfSense retails for $129.99 and
Amateurgolf.com members save 20% (that's
$26!)
when they use code "amateurgolf"
at GolfSense.me
.